Snowdown has run every December since 2009, back when skins were genuinely gone forever and the shop sold eggnog potions. Here's the whole history, including the duel mode that gave the event its name.
League of Legends History
Snowdown Showdown
The Winter EventSnowdown is built on winter holiday festivals and has been part of League's calendar since the game's first December, which makes it older than most of the champions who have worn its skins.
Almost nothing below is still in the game, and that's the reason to read it. This is what an event looked like before events became a battle pass.
The first Snowdown skins were genuinely gone forever
The 2009 through 2012 skins launched as limited edition, which meant exactly what it said. Once they left the store at the end of the event they were not coming back, which is why an old account carrying Snow Bunny Nidalee or Workshop Nunu still feels like a relic.
Riot converted the whole set to Legacy in December 2013, reasoning that locking a player out of their favorite skin on their favorite champion forever made for a miserable experience and that skins should be about self-expression rather than exclusivity. Out of the store most of the year, back during the holiday event, and that's still how Snowdown skins work.
Eggnog potions and a snow-covered Rift
During the event the shop's health and mana potions were swapped for Eggnog versions with identical effects, right down to the tooltip. It's one of the few times the item shop itself got dressed for a season.
Summoner's Rift got a snow-covered variant too, running in its original form from 2009 to 2011, disappearing for years, then returning in an updated version from 2016 to 2018. Melee minions wore costumes alongside themed icons, ward skins and a seasonal login screen, and the detail people misremember is that the minions changed clothes and never changed stats.
Snowdown sold runes, back when runes were a purchase
Under the old rune system, 2009 shipped six holiday runes sold only between December 16 and January 6: three at tier 2.5 covering critical damage, cooldown reduction and dodge, and three at tier 1.5 covering critical chance, ability power per level and health per level.
2010 and 2011 cut that back to four quintessences granting health, movement speed, magic penetration and armor penetration. All of it disappeared with the rune rework, and it's the part of Snowdown that has no modern equivalent at all.
Showdown Mode: a duel with three win conditions
The mode that gave the event its name put you on an icy lane against a single opponent, and you won by taking first blood, by reaching 100 CS, or by destroying their turret. Three routes, and you picked whichever one your champion was best at.
Queue as a duo and the bar moved: two kills, or 100 CS combined across the pair. It's still the cleanest one-versus-one format League has ever shipped, and the reason people ask for it back every December.
Legend of the Poro King replaced both summoner spells
A 5v5 blind draft on the Howling Abyss where you brought no summoner spells of your own. Both slots were taken by mode-specific ones: a poro throw that let you dash to whatever it hit, and a summon.
Ten poro hits on enemy champions banked ten marks, and ten marks called the Poro King to your side as a very tanky siege minion. Neither team could bank more marks while he was out, so every fight became a question of whether you could kill him before the other side rebuilt their count.
The thrown poro ignored spell shields and wind walls, because it isn't a spell. It's an animal, so the effects that eat projectiles and abilities didn't touch it. A poro landed anyway, banked the mark anyway, and let the thrower dash straight onto you through the thing that was supposed to stop them.
Frequently asked questions
When did Snowdown start?
2009, League's first December, and it has run every year since.
Are the old Snowdown skins still limited?
No. Riot converted them to Legacy in December 2013, so they return during the holiday event.
What was Snowdown Showdown mode?
A one-versus-one duel on an icy lane, won by first blood, 100 CS or the enemy turret.
How did the Poro King work?
Ten poro hits banked ten marks, which summoned a tanky siege minion for your team. Neither side could bank more while he was alive.
Did the winter map change gameplay?
No. The snow Rift and the costumed minions were cosmetic throughout.
The short version
Snowdown is the oldest thing on League's calendar and most of what made it distinctive has been retired. What's left is the skin line and the memory of a duel mode that did one-versus-one better than anything since.
For the mechanic that poro throw ignored, our spell shield guide lists what actually gets blocked, and for more of this era, our old League list covers everything else the game used to have.
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